Fringe Candidates Steal The Show At Idaho’s Gubernatorial Debate

Two long-shot candidates in the Idaho gubernatorial race stole the show in Wednesday’s Republican primary debate.

On stage were Gov. Butch Otter, state Sen. Russ Fulcher, as well as Harley Brown and Walt Bayes. Brown and Bayes do not pose any serious threat to Otter. Polling, however, is very sparse in the race, and Fulcher has been endorsed by Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) which supporters hope will boost the state senator to defeat Otter. The primary is on May 20.

Brown’s habit of making highly off color remarks, it should be noted, is the reason why Idaho Public Television instituted a 30-second delay for the debate. Here are a list of highlights from the debate:

• Bayes, early on in the debate, said he went to jail for homeschooling his kids.

• Brown, wearing a leather biker vest, explained how bikers have suffered discrimination. Brown said bikers “are cop magnets like a Playboy bunny wearing a mini skirt that gets hit on all the time. They pull us over without probable cause and they bring out the sniffing dogs and they search us and our bikes, even when we’re not flying our colors. If you’re a leather clad Harley Davidson driver, the cops are going to zero in on you like a heat-seeking missile.”

• Almost immediately after that, apparently to contrast himself with the other candidates, Brown then came out for same-sex marriage. “I’m glad they want to get married and live like that.” Otter, after that, vowed to fight a magistrate judge’s recent ruling striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

• Otter said states that have not established their own healthcare insurance exchanges “have Obamacare on steroids.”

• Bayes: “I honestly think half of the Republican Party is Democrats and half of the Democratic is Communist.” That sparked laughter from Brown.

• In his closing remarks Brown explained how God told him he would become president which motivated him to get a presidential tattoo on his shoulder. He then went on about how his ex-wife got “trumped up restraining orders” preventing him from seeing his kids.